A debtor's tale
by Rysthon
Summary: Dr.Ernhardt finds himself in debt.


I crouch in the corner, horrified. What have I done? It is quiet and cold in the small laboratory. The only sound is that of water boiling in a beaker. The lights are flickering on and off. In between the short periods of darkness, I see E.L.F.1 creeping closer and closer. It has two, stalky legs, a slithering body, like that of a snake, and a thin, whip-like tail, that is constantly flicking left to right. At the top of this repulsive life form, is it's head. The face and frill of a frilled lizard, with dark blue scales, and eyes like hellfire. The worst part is it's arms, though. The four of them dart around in unison, as if they have a mind of their own. To add to this, there are long bones coming out of it's elbows. The back two hands are similar to that of a chameleon's, consisting of two fingers on either side of a palm. The front resemble the paws of a sloth, with two metallic claws on each hand. I look to my right for an exit, nothing. To my left, nothing. I decide to look up, and I notice that there is an emergency exit right above me. E.L.F.1 is about five meters away from me. If I hurry, I can make it up into the exit, but there is no guarantee. I figure it's better than waiting for E.L.F.1 to come and get me. I jump up, grab the handle for the emergency exit, and yank down. The room is flooded with red light and an alarm starts blaring. This distracts E.L.F.1 just long enough for me to jump into the exit. I quickly close the door so it can't follow me through the crawlspace, and turn around. I'm inside a room with nothing in it. The walls are white, along with the floor and the roof. The light is blinding. I turn completely around, to see if I missed anything. Nothing. Just me in this room.

_"So let me get this straight," Mr. Dyhart says "You want me to fund your project for this... therapeutic gel?"_  
_I nod._  
_"You don't talk much, do you, Dr. Ernhardt?"_  
_I shake my head._  
_"That's good, I like that. It eliminates most potential distractions and improves productivity. I'll fund your project, it seems promising"_  
_I stand up and shake Mr. Dyhart's hand._  
_"But know this," he says "One way or another, I do intend on getting this debt repaid, even if it kills you." Then he starts chuckling, as if at some sort of inside joke._  
_One week later I get the funding for the therapeutic gel. I reserve a laboratory and get to work. The first step is to get test subjects. I decide to experiment on mice, so I order 3 mice, and since I can't do anything until they arrive, I work out what I'm going to do. The plan is to take a DNA sample from each of the mice and take off one of their legs on each of them. The DNA sample is for creating the therapeutic gel specific to each mouse, so that it may rebuild the mouse's missing limb. Each gel is actually a living organism, with an implanted DNA strand, it has the ability to mimic the appearance of the host._  
_ The mice arrive, and I start taking DNA samples and removing their front right legs. Experiments 1 and 2 fail, and from the collected data, I deduce what the issue is. The gel wasn't aggressive enough. I create a new batch, a much more aggressive batch. I test it on Subject 3, and it works perfectly. The leg was replaced and functioning. Now it's time for the next step, presentations._

I walk up to the wall opposite of me. I feel around for any kind of... anything. There is nothing. I go to the wall to the left and feel around there. I start knocking on the wall and notice that there are areas that are hollow. I take out my flashlight and start banging on one of the hollow points. After a few moments of banging on the wall, I notice how quiet it is. It's eerily quiet. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. There is a faint scratching noise coming from the crawlspace. My ears prick up at the faint noise. Something inside me stirs. I turn to the wall and start mindlessly swinging at the wall . The scratching gets louder and louder. I swing faster and faster.  
**BANG!**  
The loud noise makes me jump and I drop the flashlight. I figure I don't have enough time to pick it up, so I start punching the wall. I hear footsteps behind me and my heart drops. I start frantically slamming against the wall. Something touches my left leg. I stop for a second. Everything seems to slow down. All I can hear is my heart beating. I look at the wall and see the snaking shadow of E.L.F.1 behind me, with its arms darting around crazily. In one last attempt to break through the wall, I throw all of my weight at it. I feel the sensation of falling. I hit the ground and feel an extreme pain in my right arm. I can't see anything, but my nose is assaulted with the sour scent of what is like a combination of a compost bin and rotten meat. I look up at the hole where I fell from, but E.L.F.1 isn't there. It must have left to look for safe way down. I get up and look for a wall. I find one and follow it around the room in an attempt to make a mental map of the room. I come across a light switch, and decide to turn it on. The lights flicker on, and what I see horrifies me. Rows upon rows of mutilated bodies. Human bodies. My knees give out and I start throwing up on all fours. What are they actually doing here?

_"So, this is Subject 3. The mouse that grew its leg back." says Dr. Bearn "I read your report, it was quite remarkable. I'm astounded by your use of a living tissue to replace the limb. Very well done." he gets up and shakes my hand._  
_ Then something very unexpected happens. The therapeutic gel started to devour Subject 3. The mouse runs around its cage frantically squealing loudly as the gelatinous being enveloped its host. Then, Subject 3 abruptly stops running, and calms down. The being standing before me was no longer a mouse, but a gelatinous thing shaped like a mouse. My heart drops into my stomach._  
_"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" Dr. Bearn asks._  
_I shake my head slowly, unable to take my eyes off Subject 3._  
_"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can buy this from you." Dr. Bearn packs his things and starts to leave, but he trips on his way and nocks over a vat of the third batch of therapeutic gel. The same batch used to replace Subject 3's leg._  
_ I rush over to help him out of the puddle of black gel, but when I pull him out, it's already too late. The gel has covered Dr. Bearn's back. He looks like he is in shock, so I lay him down away from the gel, and slightly elevate his legs, to prevent his blood rushing from his head. I start to get some water, but Dr. Bearn grabs my hand and shakes his head. I know what this means. I stay with him and watch in horror as my creation consumes him. The gel starts to spread around his torso, then starts creeping up his arms and down his legs. After what felt like a lifetime, Dr. Bearn was no more. I have to destroy what was left of my atrocity, and remember that I made the gel flammable, in case something like this happened. So I light the gel on fire, stay at the lab until the fire burned itself out, and left for home._

After throwing up for a little bit, I figure that I can't stay in this, warehouse, of bodies. E.L.F.1 would find me eventually if I stayed. I look across the room and see a door. I walk to it, taking a sheet off a body and tying a sling for my arm. I get to the door and hear scratching and footsteps on the other side. E.L.F.1 is coming down the hall. I start panicking, and my knees start to give out. But then, I have an idea! Yes, a brilliant idea. I walk over to one of the dead bodies and start lathering myself with it's blood. It smells putrid, but it has to be done. After I cover myself with the entrails of the body, I rip up my clothes, push the body off the table, hide it behind a crate for harvested organs, and lay down where the body was. I have just enough time to cover myself with the sheet before E.L.F.1 bursts into the room. I keep quiet and hold my breath. I hear E.L.F.1 sniffing around. It sounded confused, and kept on walking. After what felt like a lifetime, I can't hear E.L.F.1's claws against the floor, I sit up and look around. It worked! My plan of blending in among the dead bodies worked! I get up, grab a sheet for a sling, and walk out the door. I make sure to close it behind me, quietly, and after I do, I tie a sling for my arm again and try to get my bearings. I look around, I'm in a long hallway, with two doors at the end. One going left, and the other going right. The door that leads to the left is on the floor, off it's hinges. I figure that's where E.L.F.1 came from, so I decide to go right and start heading down the long hallway. About halfway down, I hear a soul-tearing screech. I freeze in my tracks and turn around. E.L.F.1 is looking right at me with its hellfire eyes. I turn and run down the hallway. I hear E.L.F.1 running behind me. I get to the door on the right and slam it closed just before E.L.F.1 can get to me. My heart is pounding, my breathing is heavy, and my arm hurts extremely bad. I hear E.L.F.1 scratching at the heavy steel door.

_ "So, to summarize all of this," says Mr. Dyhart "You managed to lose all the money I lent you, and killed your only client?"_  
_I nod._  
_"And the gel didn't get you because you didn't make physical contact with it?"_  
_I nod slowly._  
_"Ok, well the only way how you can repay your debt is to work for me. And given your expertise in biology and genetic engineering, you could work on the E.L.F. project."_  
_I look at him quizzically._  
_"E.L.F. stands for Experimental LifeForm. I think this will be a perfect fit for you. Welcome to the team, Dr. Ernhardt."_  
_ We shake hands and he sends me to a briefing of what my job is. What I'm expected to do is to make the lifeless body given to me functional with the resources available. This won't be too hard compared to the therapeutic gel, seeing as for that, I had to create living tissue. For this, I just have to reanimate dead organs and place them in the cadaver. When I arrive at my laboratory, I'm met with quite the sight on my medical table. It has a body like a snake, two thin legs, a thin tail, four arms, and the head of a frilled lizard. It even has the frill. The hands are curious, the back pair being like a chameleon's and the front pair being like a sloth's. I shake this, and get to work on E.L.F.1. After a few hours of working, I decide to take a quick break for lunch. I go to get it, but I notice Mr. Dyhart watching me, so I decide to work until the job is finished. After about five more hours of gruesome work, the job is done. E.L.F.1 is complete. All I have to do now is activate it. I'm on my way out, when there's a power surge. I think nothing of it, and grab a flashlight. But when I turn around, E.L.F.1 isn't on the table._

I turn around and see where I am. The room's walls are covered in blood spatters, with some dried entrails here and there. The cement floor is littered with bones. Human bones. I notice a huge window about five meters up from the floor. Like an observation deck. When I focus my eyes, I see who is inside.  
"You son of a bitch!" I yell at Mr. Dyhart.  
"Surprised to see me?" he asks me through an intercom. "I told you I would have my debt repaid, even if it killed you." he starts laughing maniacally.  
"But why?" E.L.F.1 starts banging against the door.  
"You see," he starts pacing in the observatory "I have a lot of money, too much for my own good. So, I lend it to people who need it, like you. But if their little undertaking doesn't work out and they lose all of the money I lent them, I offer them a job to work for me. Something 'goes wrong', and they find themselves running for their lives. Whether it be from a flood, an escaped animal, or, in your case, your own abomination."  
"You're a sick, twisted man." I yell at Mr. Dyhart "I can't, and don't want to, believe someone like you exists on this beautiful Earth. Just know this, you will never get away with this, and you will pay for what you've done."  
E.L.F.1 breaks through the door. I turn around and look it in the eyes.  
"No, I think I will get away with this. And you ignore one crucial fact, I'm a multi-millionaire. Any fine that the authorities throw at me, I can easily pay off, and still have plenty of money to do whatever I want."  
E.L.F.1 wraps it's chameleon hands around my throat and lifts me up to eye level. I see it raise it's clawed hand, as if to strike. E.L.F.1 hisses, and spreads it's hood. My vision is getting darker due to the lack of oxygen, I see the hand come down and...


End file.
